


29 Relationship #writober2020

by YungWenLean



Category: Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Genre: Feminist Themes, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27252766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YungWenLean/pseuds/YungWenLean
Summary: You know the saying "If I could have one dollar for every time somebody asked me that question..."? Dominique Saint-Pierré thinks about this expression every time someone asks her about her relationship with Adrian Rubinsky.But then again, she left with so much money that she can appreciate the symbolism.
Relationships: Adrian Rubinsky/Dominique Saint-Pierré
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	29 Relationship #writober2020

**Author's Note:**

> #Writober2020 thingy and ties in with https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882233 but can stand on it's own. I accidentally had a "women of logh"-theme in this writober challenge so I was really happy to come up with a way to give Dominique the spotlight. I've always liked her.

“You’ve changed,” both said and laughed. They always said that when they met, and it was always funny. They  _ had  _ to change to survive. The joke was once a way to lighten up a subject of life and death, but in the later years, the threat didn’t seem to be so imminent. Dominique had reserved a separate room for them, but it might not even be necessary anymore. Elfriede didn’t even react when Dominique accidentally called her Elfie while they were waiting to be seated. A few years ago, she’d still be scared to death if anything that could reveal her former identity came up like that.

They have been catching up. Elfriede had finally stopped dating idiots and focused on her art. Good for her. She thought that now she had the opportunity to have her big break. Dominique vaguely, as always, explained her current occupation – “let’s say, a strategic advisor of sorts”. That too used to partially be a habit born out of necessity, but Dominique never liked to talk about this sort of thing. She reappeared once every year or two and told Elfriede that they should have dinner. At the dinners, Dominique told stories that were hard to connect into a clear pattern, and Elfirede told stories that were too easy to connect into a pattern. Then Dominique disappeared again. 

Usually they didn’t touch the subject of the past and the secrecy, to avoid saying too much. This time, Elfriede was talking about her new freedom, and asked Dominique if she ever wished that she could be open with her old identity. Dominique shrugged. “I was never fearing for my life as much as you did. They let me go, after all. Whatever threats there were to me, they are now entangled in other affairs and other vendettas. It’s more that I don’t like people asking questions. You know, the art you do…”

“The  _ art  _ you do,” Elfriede mocked. Dominique tried to keep up with whatever was hip, but didn’t always understand what Elfriede was trying to say with her strange gallery performances and video rooms. 

Dominique smiled. “If I would make one single art piece, like one of yours… it would be a video screen and there would be all these people in my past, present and future, who find out who I am and immediately ask ‘so, what kind of relationship did you have with Adrian Rubinsky?’. Layered over each-other, everyone saying that at once. Like a choir. They would be at work, in beds, at spaceship bridges, at restaurants, all of the places where I’ve heard that question.” 

Elfriede nodded.

“And then I would walk out on the stage, you know the red dress, red hair thing. I can still pull it off. And I’d say: ‘Every man wants a woman to listen to him. If a man is powerful, just any woman is not enough. It has to be a beautiful woman. If the man is intelligent, just any woman won’t do either. It has to be an intelligent woman, the most intelligent one he can find. That man will tell you that he has never met anyone like you before. That you understand him more than anyone. He’ll say that you are exciting to be with and that he wants to be with you forever. And then he’ll talk, and he’ll want you to be in the room and listen. That’s it. That was my relationship with Adrian Rubinsky.’ I’d say that, and I’d walk off the stage, and I’d never have to hear that question again.”

“That’s actually pretty good,” Elfriede squinted her eyes, like she was considering which gallerist she should pitch that too. That she shrugged it off. “Why did you stay?” she asked. 

“I didn’t,” Dominique replied. “At first it was interesting, and then I left”. 

Tonight they would have fun, and tomorrow Dominique will disappear again.

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to all the women who have been called really intelligent and soooo interesting to talk with, and then realised that the men just wanted an _intelligent_ woman to be quiet, nod, and listen to their monologues. Cheers, ladies!


End file.
